Highgate United Football Club is a

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

club based in the Shirley district of

Solihull Solihull (, or ) is a market town and the administrative centre of the wider Metropolitan Borough of Solihull in West Midlands County, England. The town had a population of 126,577 at the 2021 Census. Solihull is situated on the River Blythe i ...

, having relocated from their original location of Highgate in Birmingham. They are currently members of the and play at the Coppice.

History

The club was established in 1948 by a group of former residents of the St Vincent's Home for Working Boys, run by Father Hudson's Society.History
Highgate United F.C. They joined the South Birmingham League, before moving up to Division Two of the Worcestershire Combination in 1964.Worcestershire Combination 1950–1968
Non-League Matters After finishing fourth in their first season in Division Two, the club were promoted to Division One. In 1966–67 they reached the quarter-finals of the

FA Amateur Cup The FA Amateur Cup was an English football competition for amateur clubs. It commenced in 1893 and ended in 1974 when the Football Association abolished official amateur status. History Following the legalisation of professionalism within footba ...

; during the game against Enfield, several players collapsed after a lightning strike, and Highgate's Tony Allden died the next day. The game was abandoned and replayed at

Villa Park Villa Park is a football stadium in Aston, Birmingham, England, with a seating capacity of 42,682. It has been the home of Premier League side Aston Villa since 1897. The ground is less than a mile from both Witton and Aston railway stations ...

, where a crowd of over 31,000 saw Enfield win 6–0. The 1970s was the most successful era in Highgate United's history; in 1972–73 the club were champions of the renamed Midland Combination, also winning the League Cup and reaching the semi-finals of the FA Amateur Cup, losing 4–0 in a replay to Walton & Hersham at

Selhurst Park Selhurst Park is a football stadium in Selhurst in the London Borough of Croydon which is the home ground of Premier League side Crystal Palace. The stadium was designed by Archibald Leitch and opened in 1924. It has hosted international footba ...

after the first match at Highfield Road had ended 0–0. They retained the league title and the League Cup the following season, also winning the Birmingham Senior Cup with a 3–2 win over Darlaston. The club won a third consecutive Midland Combination title in 1974–75 and went on to win the League Cup in 1975–76 and 1976–77. Highgate were Division One runners-up in 1981–82 and League Cup winners in 1984–85. They finished bottom of the (renamed) Premier Division in 1994–95, but avoided being relegated as the division was expanded from 18 to 20 clubs. The club won the Coventry Evening Telegraph Cup win 2006–07, and were Premier Division runners-up the following season, earning promotion to the Midland Alliance. In 2014 the Midland Combination and Midland League merged to form the Midland League; despite finishing third in the Alliance the previous season, Highgate were placed in Division One of the new league, a level below their previous position. However, they went on to win Division One in the Midland League's inaugural season and were promoted to the Premier Division. In 2023–24 they finished fifth in the Premier Division, qualifying for the promotion play-offs, in which they lost 3–1 to

Lichfield City Lichfield () is a cathedral city and civil parish in Staffordshire, England. Lichfield is situated roughly south-east of the county town of Stafford, south-east of Rugeley, north-east of Walsall, north-west of Tamworth and south-west of B ...

in the semi-finals.

Ground

The club originally played at Billesley Common. By the 1960s they had moved to their current ground on Tythe Barn Lane, five minutes walk from Whitlocks End railway station. A covered stand, partially seated and partially standing, was built on one side of the pitch in July 1996 and was later named the Patrick & Philomena Meade Stand.Highgate United
Pyramid Passion Floodlights were installed the following year.

Honours

*Midland League **Division One champions 2014–15 *Midland Combination **Division One champions 1972–73, 1973–74, 1974–75 **League Cup winners 1972–73, 1973–74, 1975–76, 1976–77, 1984–85 *Birmingham Senior Cup **Winners 1973–74 *Coventry Evening Telegraph Cup **Winners 2006–07 *Tony Allden Memorial Cup **Winners 1973–74, 1974–75

Records

*Best

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

performance: Fourth qualifying round, 1973–74 *Best

performance: Semi-finals, 1972–73 *Best

FA Trophy The Football Association Challenge Trophy, commonly known as the FA Trophy, is a men's football knockout cup competition run by and named after the English Football Association and competed for primarily by semi-professional teams. The compet ...

performance: Third round, 1974–75 *Best

FA Vase The Football Association Challenge Vase, usually referred to as the FA Vase, is an annual football competition for teams playing in Steps 5 and 6 of the English National League System (or equivalently, tier 9 or 10 of the overall English footbal ...

performance: Third round, 2023–24

References

External links